The Beacon on the Hill recounts the night that Mariposa’s Church of England Church burns to the ground. Citizens “fought the fire, not to save the church... but to stop the spread of it and save the town” (101). Thanks to the firefighting skills of Josh Smith, the fire is contained to the church and the wooden shed behind it. The town is saved, but questions linger about whether the fire was an accident or an act of arson: the church was insured for twice its replacement value.
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